Though billiards had already been popular for more than 100 years at that time, Mingaud was the first person to round the end of a pool cue with a file and apply a leather tip to it. After prison, Mingaud promptly proved his invention's superiority over its flat, club-like predecessor in exhibitions throughout France. What the captain had developed was essentially the cue in use today, but the game he generated interest in did not involve shooting balls into pockets.